PURPOSE

This report provides detailed information to City Council on the request by Ms. Maureen Spagnolo for reconsideration of the Traffic and Transportation Committee denial to install speed humps in her block of Frederic Street.

BACKGROUND

In early 2003, Maureen Spagnolo, 934 Frederic Street, submitted a petition for speed humps on the section of Frederic Street between Magnolia Boulevard and Chandler Boulevard.  Staff denied the request for speed humps based on low traffic volumes on the street.  At the request of Ms. Spagnolo, staff restudied the street in 2004 and 2005 for traffic volume, traffic speed and accident information.  The traffic demand on this section of Frederic Street grew but continued to be below the threshold for consideration for speed humps.  Ms. Spagnolo requested review by the Traffic and Transportation Committee to present her concerns about the traffic on her street.  The Traffic and Transportation Committee discussed the item on July 14, 2005, and they voted to deny the request for speed humps.  Ms. Spagnolo subsequently requested a review by City Council.  On December 13, 2005, Council directed staff to agendize this item for consideration.

ANALYSIS

Frederic Street between Magnolia Boulevard and Chandler Boulevard is a 40-foot wide residential street containing 39 residential homes as shown in Attachment 1.  One of the residential lots at the south end of the block, at Magnolia Boulevard, was converted to a commercial parking lot for a business fronting Magnolia Boulevard.  Frederic Street is one block west of Buena Vista Street.

The established criteria for the installation of speed humps include both neighborhood acceptance criteria (a petition) and engineering requirements.  The engineering requirements for the establishment of speed humps on a residential street include an 85^th percentile speed of at least 30 MPH, a traffic volume of at least 500 vehicles per day, and a street gradient of no more than five (5) percent.  Additionally, the street cannot be a major arterial street and it cannot be on a critical street section for emergency vehicles.  Frederic Street currently satisfies all engineering criteria for speed humps, except the volume criteria. 

Traffic Data � Traffic volume and speed data were collected over a period of two years between 2003 and 2005.  Traffic volumes ranged between 367 daily vehicles in 2003 and 469 daily vehicles in 2005, and 85^th percentile speeds ranged from 30 MPH to 32 MPH in that same period.  The peak traffic demand on Frederic Street was about 45 vehicles in an hour, and the average volume was about 35 vehicles in any one daytime hour.  About 35 percent of the traffic on Frederic Street exceeded the 25 MPH residential street speed limit. This percentage is consistent with most other streets in Burbank that do not have speed humps.

A residential street, like Frederic Street, with 40 homes is expected to carry between 350 and 400 daily vehicles from the residential land uses.  Frederic Street appears to carry about 50 to 80 vehicles per day that are not destined for the neighborhood.  Thus, an estimated 15 percent of the traffic on Frederic Street is non-local traffic.

Frederic Street is 1260 feet long.  If speed humps were installed on the street, a minimum of three devices would be required.  The current cost of installing three speed humps is about $4,500.  Should the City Council elect to install speed humps on Frederic Street, these funds must be appropriated for the project.

RECOMMENDATION

Staff recommends that the application for speed humps on Frederic Street be denied.

Attachments:              1.   Frederic Street Vicinity Map

go to the top